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Ruby's coat

Ruby and I played with another blenheim last week, and the other dog's coat was much different than Ruby's. Ruby's is kind of wavy in places (mainly because it's hard to keep her still while I'm blow-drying her and she shakes off the water, thus poofing out her hair). Also, the other dog's coat was incredibly silky. I mean, Ruby's coat isn't coarse or anything, but Shelby's was just different. My friend said that she gives her dog fish oil capsules, and I was wondering about your opinion about that. Also, if I give it, where do I get it? Pet stores? Vet office?? I just want to make sure I give her the right kind.

I have also noticed a huge difference in coats between my Tri boy and my Blenheim boy. Kip (tri) has an incredible shine and sleek coat. The breeder we got him from keeps asking us where we get him groomed but he hasnt had a hair snipped since we got him (he's 5 months now). Albie our little blenheim boy has poofy fluffly hair which is much longer. We call him our little panda bear because he has all this white poofy hair and rings around his eyes like a panda.

Is it just me or do you all notice a difference in coat texture/length between the colors?

We have 3 cavaliers and each has a different coat, though all are soft. Geordie has a soft, sleek coat that has naturally short hair on the top of his head and back, but long hair everywhere else; his coat is easiest to care for. India's hair is thick, soft, and more furry, but long and silky in all the right places. Chocolate has long, long hair everywhere except on her face, and we have to have her hair trimmed when she goes to the groomer. Her hair is soft, thick and a tiny bit wavy.

Oh, I forgot to add that I buy Fish Oil softgels (1000mg) that are meant for human consumption at the drugstore. We buy big bottles of 180 softgels when they go on sale.

We give one softgel daily to each dog, right in their food. They scarf it down whole, no problem. Some dogs only need it every other day if it softens their stools too much, or for a puppy I would use a knife to poke a hole in the softgel and squeeze out half the oil directly into the pup's food, saving the other half for the next day.

All the supplements in the world will not alter the genetic makeup of your dog's coat.

If you look closely at the direction that the hair grows out of your dog's skin, you may see that some grow in a different direction to the others. This will make the coat look more unruly than a dog where all the hairs lay in the same direction. Sonny's shoulder hair grows in a kind of semi-circle, swirling around to point in the direction of his head, and if I try to brush that hair in the same direction of the rest of his coat, it makes him look a little boofy.

I have totally different types of coats between my two blenheims, between the two tris, and between the blenheims and the tris. The type of coat the parents and grandparents have is probably the biggest determinant for coat, I think (think about our own heads of hair and how one can have mousy limp hair and someone else, a full head of think curly hair! It ain't fair but it is the distribution of the genes... ).-- unless an animal is fed a really poor diet I don't think supplements or particular diets make much difference to coat appearance. I think people tend to see what they except to see as a result of giving the type of diet or supplements. It's simply a variation of the very well known placebo effect -- people tend to see or feel the improvement they expect to see; it's why double blind tests are so important for gauging the actual effect of a diet, a drug, a supplement.

I've had rescue dogs come in with lovely coats (eg Parker, who went to Sins' parents) that come from backgrounds where they were fed absolute crap in the former home, so diet as long as it meets standard requirements, simply cannot make too big a difference I think. Manwhile Lily (tri), who gets a great diet here, has a so-so coat, while Leo (tri) is nice and glossy.

There are some variations by colour though -- black hair tends to get fullest and longest and I find -- sheds the most.

A lot of coat appearance can come from the type of conditioner used by the groomers or in the home. Conditioners or spray-on grooming aids with silicone impart a really nice sheen and silkiness to the coat. These can last for weeks.

The tri's have the most!!! Kevin is fairly 'curly', although he is entire. Jemima came to us nearly bald and her coat is now very soft, and often looks like an explosion in a mattress factory. Marlon's coat is gorgeous - straight and long.

The blenheims are different - Cailean's coat is very soft, Bradley's more wispy and curly, but Brad's been neutered.